Cleavindale Exchange
by hiddenagendas53
Summary: When an opportunity she can't resist comes knocking, she takes it without hesitation. Birchman is all she and her brother have ever dreamed of since they were kids. But sometimes dreams can turn into nightmares, promises can be threats, and trusting the wrong person can get you killed.


p class="MsoNormal" span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"The general consensus was that we were dangerous. The look in their eyes said all they cared to admit. We were a danger to all the normal people living on the outside. We had to be contained, or else. /span/p  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"That's how my brother and I found ourselves at Cleavindale. If one was to search for it online they'd quickly find that no such place existed. I know, because I've tried looking it up. Tried to find someway of leaking our location to someone, anyone really. Because the day the General showed up at my parent's doorstep was the day my life ended./div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"To anyone who didn't know him, the General was an easy going protector of the innocent. His only goal in life was to offer opportunities for the gifted to succeed in the world. No one had any clue what his true intentions were until it was too late. /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"Every one of us in this place shared the same idealistic dreams of the future at one point. It was the reason the majority of us chose to accept the General's gracious offer. Who wouldn't want to be told that they had unbridled potential. The human psyche blinds itself with ego./div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"That my brother was offered the same opportunity came as no surprise. We both had the same set of skills and were at the top of our classes in every subject. We would have been in more challenging schools if our parents could have afforded it./div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"Which is why when General Howler offered to continue our education at one of the most prestigious schools in the country free of charge, our parent's skimmed over the fine print and signed on the dotted line. It was a dream come true for our family. One that quickly spiraled out of control. /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"I still remember how excited they were when we got home that night. We'd taken the bus as usual and when we got to our stop our mother was there to meet us. It wasn't especially cold and the weather was rather enjoyable for being so late in the Fall. Robert and I shared a look of concern. /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"The last time one of our parents met us at the bus stop it was to tell us that our Grandmother was in the hospital. They couldn't wait until we got home to tell us because of the urgency of the situation. No sooner had we gotten off the bus then we were ushered into the family car and speeding into the city. /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"Our father explained everything on the way to the hospital and our Grandmother turned out fine in the end. But the memory of it had us on edge as soon as we saw our Mother that day. /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"Robert had been the first one off the bus, his trepidation hanging like a fog around him. I followed shortly after and together we made our way over to her. As soon as we were able to see her face we knew it was good news though. /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"No matter how many times we asked she refused to tell us why she'd decided to pick us up instead of waiting for us at the house. She waited until we got home so she and our father could break the news to us together. Her excitement had been contagious and before we'd even gotten out of the car we were smiling and sharing in her joy. /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"When they finally told us the good news we could hardly believe it. Birchman was the most exclusive and prestigious institute in the country. The future suddenly seemed infinite. It even had live in dorms so we could devote more of our time to our studies./div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"We were so excited we couldn't sleep that night. After our parents had gone to bed Robert had come into my room and we stayed up talking about Birchman all night. The futures we'd always wanted were finally within reach./div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"The memory still brings a smile to my face even as I remember what came after it. It was the last time either of us were truly happy. I often use that memory to get myself through the worse days. /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"Within a few weeks we'd been transferred to Birchman and had been more than ready to move into the dorms. Our parents couldn't wait to help us set up our rooms and spend whatever time they could with us before they had to leave. But when we arrived at Birchman we found out parents weren't allowed on the institute grounds. That should have been our first warning. /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"In the end they left disappointed but promised to call every few days to catch up with us. The long awaited calls never came though. When we asked about them they simply told us no one had called./div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" We didn't find out until later that no one had called because no one could get through. The entire institute was wired on a closed circuit communication system. Calls could go out but only if they were first routed through the proper computer program and only then if the correct code for that day had been entered. I found that out when I eavesdropped on a conversation between one of the security guards, Mitch, and the head secretary. /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"Mitch was requesting access to the Alpha system operator so he could put in an order for more materials. That wasn't the confusing part of the conversation however. The conversation got even stranger while I continued to pretend to be absorbed in my calculus book./div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"One moment they were quietly discussing the list of materials Mitch needed for his security forces and the next he was going over Program materials he'd been told they needed. To say I was shocked was an understatement./div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"I knew they didn't know I was there when they started talking about the Program happening on the lower levels of the school. No students were allowed past the secure, always guarded, double steel doors that lead to the West most wing where the entrance to the lower two floors of the building resided. /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"No one knew what was behind those doors. No one even knew what the Program was. All any one knew was that it was a privilege to be chosen. Only the best and brightest ever got picked and the candidate was almost always a member of the graduating class. They got to choose to join the Program or leave the school and pursue their own goals. /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"In the history of Birchman no student had ever chosen to leave once they got accepted into the Program. It was common knowledge among the student body. One day they'd simply find the black envelope with the red seal waiting for them on their bed and the next they'd be gone./div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"The teachers and faculty weren't even allowed to talk about it where any student could overhear. It was written in the school rules. I remember thinking it was my lucky day when Mitch started talking about it, until I realized what was going on the material list./div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"Instead of the research supplies or office materials I expected, medical equipment and specifications for pharmaceuticals were all that went on the list. Not just the everyday things that the school might need in the case of an emergency either. The kind of medical supplies that instantly made me suspicious of what really went on at Birchman./div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"I don't remember the rest of their conversation, only the shock on Mitch's face as he rounded the corner and saw me sitting on the bench outside the other open office door. If I wasn't so absorbed in digesting the new information I would have given myself away. As it was I still looked completely engrossed in my calculations. Once Mitch realized I wasn't paying attention to anything around me, he simply resumed his march back to the barracks behind the school as if he'd never stopped to begin with. He was probably hoping that if he kept walking the camera operators wouldn't pick up anything suspicious. I was hoping the same thing./div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /div  
div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"That was the day I started paying attention to everything I'd been taking for granted in the few weeks I'd been at the school. Since it was nearing the end of the day I hadn't been able to tell Robert anything I'd learned. By the time breakfast rolled around and my chance came, it was already too late. /div  
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